Laws and Lies
by Jane Meurig
Summary: Jane was a ten year old girl living in London, when something unexpected happens, and she must live a lie against the law. Her new life leads to the Caribbean, where she meets who we've all been waiting for... Prequel to Where You Belong.
1. Arrested

I raced home from the stables that day knowing my father would be so proud of me with the three shillings I earned. He made a lot more than I did, but even the tiniest things were good for us. I held those three little coins tight in my hand.

I turned a corner looking into our street to find soldiers surrounding the front door. I ran up to the door biting my lip and wondering what they were here for. Me and my dad were the only ones that lived there, and we never did anything wrong. I looked through the doorway on my tiptoes and still couldn't see what was wrong because all the guards were crowded in. I didn't know what to think and I couldn't see my father anywhere. I was shivering, too.

The guards standing on each side of the door had their rifles in hand and ready. As I attempted to step inside, they stepped toward each other, blocking my entrance. Their stern faces were hard and silent as gravestones.

"Papa!" I shouted, hoping someone would answer. No one heard me inside. They were all shouting. I asked the guards, "Can I go in?"

They didn't move.

"I live here!"

They still didn't move.

I shoved my body forward and somehow slipped between their legs, and they finally moved, but they were chasing after me through the crowded hallway. Tall men stood around being dark, and I had to push past all of them. I ran to the kitchen because that's where my papa always waits for me after work. There were so many people standing in our little house that were all wearing the same red uniform that I couldn't tell if the guards were still chasing me. There was a solid circle of broad-shouldered men and in the middle stood a man in a blue brocade coat, and a chair. The man on the chair was hunched over and I couldn't see his face, but I choked on my worst of fears. "Papa?" I squeaked, somehow knowing it was him.

"Jane!" my father looked up and started to stand up, but the man in blue stopped him, putting his sword across his chest.

"Stay where you are," he shouted. His face was stonier than any other in the room. More intimidating than I thought was possible.

"Commodore, sir, that's my daughter," he answered deliberately.

"She'll have to wait, then." He scowled at me then looked away again.

"Papa, what's happening? Why are all these men here?" I asked, still shivering.

The man answered for him, "He's been arrested for piracy and other crimes against the crown. He'll get what he deserves."

Father frowned at him, then turned to me and asked, "What's that in your hand?"

"I got three shillings at the stables today."

"That's wonderful, darling!" I slid between two soldiers' elbows and ran toward him, smiling and holding out my hand. The other man stared at me coldly. Papa smiled when he saw it. "Jane, that's great! How'd you do it?"

"A very nice man gave me a tip for grooming his horse so nice! It was such a pretty one, too!"

He gave me a big hug and patted my head the way he always does when he's proud of me. I stopped shivering but my feet still felt tingly and cold.

The commodore still looked very unhappy and said, "Our informer did not mention a child, Meurig. I wonder why that is."

"You've been misinformed. He didn't know my daughter and therefore didn't know me. If he didn't know me, he can't credibly say I'm a pirate. Take your men and leave. You have no business in my home."

"Defiance, Meurig. Watch your tongue. And our informer said that a certain Owain Meurig appears to be a blacksmith living in London, but is, in fact, a pirate. This all describes you, sir, and he never said you didn't have a child. The information remains, though you deny it, quite credible."

"I have no pirate brand, you have no proof."

"How do you think pirates get their brand? They must first be caught, and apparently this is the first time you have been caught. Unfortunately for you, you were caught by us instead of the East India Trading Company." he turned to the soldiers behind him, "Keep your guns on him, and you, fetch some irons."

Papa leaned close to my ear and whispered, "I'm sorry, Jane." He paused when some men started shouting, then started again, "You can't trust these men. You'll have to get away from here, because they will find you and kill you if you don't. You must never let them catch you."

The man saw him whispering to me and kicked his shins. "What did you say?" he ordered.

He shook his head and I saw tears come to his eyes. My body froze for a split second, then started shivering again. I had never seen my father cry before. I cried, too. "What are they going to do to you?"

"I don't know, Jane," he answered, "I don't know."

A soldier left then came back with chains, which he put on Papa's wrists. The commodore continued, "Your hanging will be scheduled sometime in the next few days. Take him away."

Some soldiers pushed me aside, grabbed Papa by the shoulders, and shoved him forward. He looked back at me to give me one, last weary look, but someone gripped the back of his head and pushed it down and forward. The commodore stood behind for a while and gave me one last cold look before following them out. I stared back at him in wonder at how he could be so cruel.

I stood there in total disbelief. I was alone in the house, which now felt dark and cold. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen. I felt a knot in my throat and tears spilled out of my eyes. I feared for Papa, and I hated the man who betrayed him. I went up to my room and fell on the bed, but didn't sleep. I only cried.


	2. Helpless

"That poor girl," he said.

"She should be ashamed of her father, not mourning him. He was a pirate. He got what he deserved," his wife argued.

"He was still her father."

"If he was my father I'd disown him, or change my name."

"She's only ten years old. You know she has nowhere to go now, right? No known relatives, no money, no property."

"So? If she isn't willing to shame her pirate father she also deserves it."

"Don't you have any pity?"

"Never! He was a _pirate_ for heaven sakes! Who could be sorry for him?"

"I meant for the girl," the man corrected.

"She's got the blood in her. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned pirate herself one of these days. You're just sorry because it's a shame on your business, having employed him for eight years."

"Yes, well, it's not like I knew what he was. He didn't have a brand and it was never obvious."

"Must it be obvious for you to see it at all?"

"Oh, and I suppose you knew all along?"

"No, but…never mind." The plump woman fumbled away into the kitchen, mumbling something to herself.

Mr. Davidson sat down on the couch and sighed.

I hadn't known where to go, and I knew Papa trusted his master. "Mr. Edward Davidson is a good man," he'd always say. So, I went to his house. They already knew about Papa when I got there.

When he opened the door he said, "Oh, hi, Jane. I'm terribly sorry about your father," He brought me into the house and gave me some tea. I sat in the kitchen and he and his wife went into the living room to talk. I could hear them well, and I couldn't help but listen. I didn't like his wife, though. She's fat and insolent. But I never said that aloud.

When she wobbled back through the doorframe she growled, "Are you done with your tea, yet?"

I nodded a "yes" and walked away into the living room. I didn't want to be around her. "Mr. Davidson, sir?"

"Yes, Jane?"

"I think I should go home now. I'm not sure I should have come here. I didn't mean to be of any trouble."

"No, there's no trouble at all. You're welcome to stay. Do you even have a place to sleep?" There was concern in his voice.

I shook my head. "Not if they don't let me stay at home."

"I'm afraid they'd have to send you out eventually. Without your father paying for it, you can't stay there."

I stared at my cold feet. There was no escaping reality now.

"I'll stay at home as long as I can," I answered.

"All right. Take care."

I nodded and walked out the door and back home. When I got back, government officials and property lawyers were surrounding the house. The investigators searched the house for a will and found nothing. He had not written one yet. The government people started talking about complicated things I didn't understand, so I went upstairs to my room. After a little while I decided to come out. When I stepped into the hallway, I could hear voices from another room also attached to the hall. I sat against the wall near their door and listened.

"She's got no family to speak of, no property or money; she has nothing. She doesn't have the rights to earn anything from here since there was no will, and so she has nothing. What she takes from here might as well be hers, but she won't be able to stay here. All the orphanages in London are full, too. She's orphaned and homeless, but I don't know how to tell her."

"She's only ten years old! There's got to be some place willing to take her in. She can't live on her own. She'd never survive!"

"There's nowhere. I mean, just curious, could you let her live with you?"

"I don't make enough money to feed six children, myself, and my wife. There's no way I could do it."

"See. That's almost exactly what everyone else would say. They don't have enough money to pay for another child. Who has enough money for anything these days?"

"There's no hope for her is there, then?"

"None."

"I hear she's a good thief and pickpocket. Perhaps there is hope for her. But who wants another homeless child on the streets, who'll turn into a criminal, anyway? There are so many reports and complaints. We can't just put her out there and say, 'You're a homeless orphan; you'll get used to it some day.' No. That would be terrible."

"Do we have a choice? You said yourself, she's got nothing left."

"Men, what are we to do?"

"Give her the house?"

"You know that's not legal."

"Isn't there something we can give her? We cannot have another thief on the streets. The police have a hard enough time as it is."

"Come on! There's nothing we can do. Laws in England clearly don't give many rights to ten-year-old girls, and who are we to change the law? She has nothing, and we have nothing to argue against that. Her father's fate was regrettable, but remember what he did. Although she has yet done nothing of the kind, you already stated that she is known for skill in pick-pocketing."

I couldn't listen anymore. These men were arguing about whether or not I could remain living in this house. In fact, they were arguing whether or not I could remain living at all. I really wished my father had written a will. And now it's the government's fault I became homeless. And orphaned? They couldn't have killed him already, could they? Papa used to tell me that they couldn't always be trusted, and now I understood why. "You must never let them catch you," he said. _Don't trust them_. _Never let them catch you_.


End file.
